CheckMate (Play At Your Own Risk)


Tiece - 2010
    He is wanted by many attractive women, who will do anything to spark his attention. These thrill seeking women are known to him as his pawns and they anxiously wait for him to fulfill their sexual fantasies. In return, he’s paid generously for his adventurous deeds. His magnetism, good looks, and extraordinary style of love making is the key to getting him everything he wants, but falling in love was not part of the game plan until Candy makes her move on him. Things seem to be headed in the right direction until Candy’s world is turned upside down and Monty finds himself needing to be there to pick up the pieces. As the two grow closer, the balancing act between satisfying his pawns and being with his potential queen becomes a strategic move in wanting to have his cake and eat it too. Will this spontaneous high mean more to him than being with just one woman or will the love of the game entice him to continue to play? Will Candy continue to pursue the man of her dreams or will she ultimately realize that keeping her dignity is more important? One thing for sure is that Monty is going to continue to live life to the fullest and, at all cost, he intends on winning. Play at your own risk.

Getting Schooled


Christina C. Jones - 2016
    She has no intention of doing anything with that discovery – nothing long term, at least. But everybody knows what happens to best laid plans. Jason is a grown man. 28 years old, seasoned and scarred by his real-life experience in the world, he’s at Blakewood State University to finish his degree and move on. The last thing he’s interested in is the female population on campus… but sexy, infuriating Reese might be a notable exception. This isn’t a story of opposites attract. More like counterparts clash. Neither of them is afraid to do battle, and neither is willing to back down. Love and war, win or lose… somebody’s gonna end up getting schooled.

The Lucky Ones


Mark Edwards - 2017
    Little did she know it was also the last. When a woman’s body is found in the grounds of a ruined priory, Detective Imogen Evans realises she is dealing with a serial killer—a killer whose victims appear to die in a state of bliss, eyes open, smiles forever frozen on their faces.A few miles away, single dad Ben Hofland believes his fortunes are changing at last. Forced to move back to the sleepy village where he grew up following the breakdown of his marriage, Ben finally finds work. What’s more, the bullies who have been terrorising his son, Ollie, disappear. For the first time in months, Ben feels lucky.But he is unaware that someone is watching him and Ollie. Someone who wants nothing but happiness for Ben.Happiness…and death. The Lucky Ones is the terrifying new thriller from the #1 Kindle bestselling author of Follow You Home and The Devil’s Work.

The Stillwater Girls


Minka Kent - 2019
    When the youngest grows gravely ill, their mother leaves with the child to get help from a nearby town. And they never return.As months pass, hope vanishes. Supplies are low. Livestock are dying. A brutal winter is bearing down. Then comes the stranger. He claims to be looking for the girls’ mother, and he’s not leaving without them.To escape, Wren and her sister must break the rule they’ve grown up with: never go beyond the forest.Past the thicket of dread, they come upon a house on the other side of the pines. This is where Wren and Sage must confront something more chilling than the unknowable. They’ll discover what’s been hidden from them, what they’re running from, and the secrets that have left them in the dark their entire lives.

Bad Girlz 4 Life


Shannon Holmes - 2008
    Tonya Morris a.k.a. "Tender" is back and this time the ride is wilder than ever.Coming of age in the Badlands of north Philadelphia--one of the toughest and poorest communities in the country--Tonya Morris has had to make some desperate and, at times, ruthless moves in her bid to survive. When Tonya stepped into the unforgiving business of stripping, she found herself caught up in a world of sex-filled nights, dirty money, backstabbing cohorts, and murder.She left that world behind to become a hairstylist. However, after she is blacklisted from salons across Philadelphia and is evicted by her shady landlord, Tonya finds herself back in the stripping business. Except this time, she promises herself, things are going to end differently.Tonya teams up with her best friend, Na'eema, to organize underground sex parties, and it's not long before they have a team of beautiful girls and are rubbing elbows with athletes, rappers, and celebrities.Then Tonya's ex-lover and now music industry superstar, Q, steps onto the scene, and everything takes a dramatic new twist. Because it's not just Q who is back in her life. His murderous baby mama, Niecey, is fresh out of jail and ready to raise hell. And she's got Tonya in her sights. In the meantime, Tonya's past has risen like a beast, threatening to tear away all her newfound success. But Tonya isn't going down without a fight.

Wahala


Nikki May - 2022
    kids. She’s dating Kayode and wants him to be “the one” (perfect, like her dead father). Her friends think he’s just another in a long line of dodgy Nigerian boyfriends.Boo has everything Ronke wants—a kind husband, gorgeous child. But she’s frustrated, unfulfilled, plagued by guilt, and desperate to remember who she used to be.Simi is the golden one with the perfect lifestyle. No one knows she’s crippled by impostor syndrome and tempted to pack it all in each time her boss mentions her “urban vibe.” Her husband thinks they’re trying for a baby. She’s not.When the high-flying, charismatic Isobel explodes into the group, it seems at first she’s bringing out the best in each woman. (She gets Simi an interview in Hong Kong! Goes jogging with Boo!) But the more Isobel intervenes, the more chaos she sows, and Ronke, Simi, and Boo’s close friendship begins to crack.A sharp, modern take on friendship, ambition, culture, and betrayal, Wahala (trouble) is an unforgettable novel from a brilliant new voice.

The Carter Boys


Desiree M. Granger - 2015
    decides to go off to college in the capital of the south, Atlanta Ga?? She quickly gets introduced to the Atlanta life style where Bruh is said every other word. Dreaded fro’s are a must. Hot lemon pepper wings are law. West side accents are always thicker than the east side. Nobody says ATL unless they’re from out of town. HBCU life is unlike any other. Lastly and most importantly that it's all about family, in particular the Carter Family. Without the Carters? There is no Atlanta. Drama...Sex...Love...Drugs..and Music are just a few of the Carter Boys daily dealings, when being the largest most dangerous organization the city of Atlanta has ever seen isn’t on their to-do list. The women who want to be with them and the men who want to be just like them can easily get lost in the shuffle when the target is constantly moving to a new Carter’s back.  Eldest brother Shiloh has always kept to himself. Even with seven other siblings, he tends to shy away from the attention since he has the weight of his family secret on his shoulders. Protecting them from their family's dark past has always been his job, even as it starts to become to much for him bare. That is until he meets a beautiful woman who moves next door to him, and shows him that some secrets aren’t always meant to be kept.  Elijah Carter is not only the face of The Carter Boys, but his vocal talents is what has their name ringing bells in the music world. A hot head and a womanizer, Elijah only has time for two things, making sure his family stays feared in the streets and taking down any groupie who will do anything for just one night with him. All of the perks that come along with being a singing sensation and a street legend will have any man living in pure bliss, but when Elijah runs into the quiet, yet ordinary college girl named Jordyn with a “Y” she introduces him to something far greater. Trent Carter is everything any man could ever hope of being. A brother of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, this pretty boy is educated, can have any woman he wants, and is apart of one of the largest crime families in Atlanta. With being pretty much the object of every woman's desire, Trent never has a problem with the opposite sex. Whether its for one night or a short fling, the women that surround him are always ready and willing to make it on his hit list. But what happens when a man who can have any woman he wants, meets a girl who doesn’t even bat an eye in his direction?  The Carters may be a dysfunctional bunch, but they love hard and are willing to do anything to make sure their family stays on top. The only question is, can a strong family on the stage and in the streets hold it together for the love of each other when their secret is brought to light or will their families past ruin everything they’ve worked so hard for?

Hood: An Urban Erotic Tale


Noire - 2007
    Because your real enemies ain't aiming at your back. They lunging straight for your heart.”Lamont "Hood" Mason is a fearless nineteen-year-old gangsta who was born and raised in the projects of Brooklyn, New York. He was an abandoned child who roamed the cold city streets and fought hard for survival. The only thing constant in his young life was the safety of a Brownsville barbershop owned by a father figure called Fat Daddy. The barbershop is where Hood comes of age, but cutting hair isn't the only thing Fat Daddy has going on. His daughter, Egypt, is the love of Hood's young life, and the one person whose dreams of a stable future can lead him off the grimy urban corners and out of the hustling life. But when Fat Daddy gets caught slippin’ and crosses paths with Xanbar, a notoriously brutal drug kingpin, his vices threaten to bring death down on the family Hood loves. In an effort to protect his own, Hood and his best friend and hustling partner, Dreko, take to the streets on a bloody mission that doesn't go exactly as planned. Hood returns to find his world turned upside down by a wave of sex, violence, and betrayal. No longer the starving kid on the street, he's now a man seeking vengeance and retribution, and he might be forced to choose between bending or breaking as he picks up the shattered pieces of his life, one by one.

Welfare Grind


Kendall Banks - 2012
    With four kids in tow, living off the welfare system had become her life along with the extra cash, sex and violence, her gangsta boyfriend Dupree brought into her life. Soon, chaos erupts, causing Keema's secret past to become a problem. When the chips fall, they fall hard, leaving Keema willing to do whatever it takes to keep money in her pocket. She's willing to go that extra mile, even if it means selling her kids, or setting up her man.

Chocolate Covered Forbidden Fruit


Trista Russell - 2006
    Not only is there a large age difference between Thalia and the middle-aged pastor, but he also happens to be the father of Madison, her best friend since junior high school. Madison isn't trying to deal with her father dating anyone after her mother's death. Thalia asks Isaac to keep their relationship a secret, but he's been intrigued by her ever since she was a teenager, and now he wants the world to know. When tragedy strikes, their love is exposed to her family, his colleagues, his congregation, and her best friend. Now it seems like the whole town is in an uproar. The gossiping church mothers in Mount Pleasant aren't the only problem that Thalia and Isaac have, though. A former lover rears his ugly head and forces their relationship to change for the absolute worst. Can this May-December romance survive when it seems fate is just not on their side?

Creep


Jennifer Hillier - 2011
    . .Dr. Sheila Tao is a professor of psychology. An expert in human behavior. And when she began an affair with sexy, charming graduate student Ethan Wolfe, she knew she was playing with fire. Consumed by lust when they were together, riddled with guilt when they weren’t, she knows the three-month fling with her teaching assistant has to end. After all, she’s finally engaged to a kind and loving investment banker who adores her, and she’s taking control of her life. But when she attempts to end the affair, Ethan Wolfe won’t let her walk away.. . . no one else can.Ethan has plans for Sheila, plans that involve posting a sex video that would surely get her fired and destroy her prestigious career. Plans to make her pay for rejecting him. And as she attempts to counter his every threatening move without her colleagues or her fiancé discovering her most intimate secrets, a shattering crime rocks Puget Sound State University: a female student, a star athlete, is found stabbed to death. Someone is raising the stakes of violence, sex, and blackmail . . . and before she knows it, Sheila is caught in a terrifying cat-and-mouse game with the lover she couldn’t resist—who is now the monster who won’t let her go.

The Gifted: A Short Treat


Grey Huffington - 2018
    Unfortunately, shooting her shot didn't exactly go as planned and she's been trying to find anything to blame the dismissal on but rejection. The brushing off of her comments and never-ending jokes are merely enough to shut her up and she continues to poke the sleeping beast until he wakes. As fate would have it, the universe shifted in Rain's favor but she's completely speechless when her open threats are finally put to the test and her boss is dinging her doorbell.

Yellow Wife


Sadeqa Johnson - 2021
    But when her birthday finally comes around, instead of the idyllic life she was hoping for with her true love, she finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half-Acre, a jail where slaves are broken, tortured, and sold every day. Forced to become the mistress of the brutal man who owns the jail, Pheby faces the ultimate sacrifice to protect her heart in this powerful, thrilling story of one slave’s fight for freedom.

Between You and Me


Lisa Hall - 2016
    They love each other. But they aren’t happy. Sal cannot leave, no matter what Charlie does – no matter how much it hurts.

The Last Thing She Ever Did


Gregg Olsen - 2018
    . .The community along Oregon's Deschutes River is one of successful careers and perfect families. For years, up-and-comers Liz and Owen have admired their good friends and neighbors, Carole and David. They appear to have it all--security, happiness, and a beautiful young son, Charlie.Then Charlie vanishes without a trace, and all that seemed safe is shattered by a tragedy that is incomprehensible--except to Liz.It took one fleeting moment for her to change the lives of everyone she loves--a heartrending accident that can't be undone. Neither can the second-worst mistake of her life: concealing it. As two marriages crack and buckle in grief and fear, Liz retreats into her own dark place of guilt, escalating paranoia--and betrayals even she can't imagine. Because there's another good neighbor who has his own secrets, his own pain, and his own reasons for watching Liz's every move.And only he knows that the mystery of the missing boy on the Deschutes River is far from over.